One of two signings for Tottenham in the January transfer window was Rodrigo Bentancur, coming in to fill in the gap left by Tanguy Ndombélé’s return to Lyon.
The Uruguayan was signed permanently for a fee rising to €25m, and there are now quite a few expectations placed on the midfielder, who will be hoping he can help Antonio Conte’s side climb up the Premier League table into the Champions League places.
Time will tell if both his and Dujan Kulusevski’s transfers were good deals by Fabio Paratici, but former Manchester City defender, and quite clearly a club legend, Pablo Zabaleta thinks that, at least on the face of it, the move was a good one for the player.
He told El Observador: “He went to a very good club, has grown a lot. It has one of the best sport cities in England where the England national team sometimes train. They built a new stadium. They tore down the olden and built the new one in the same place.
“A manager with a lot of experience like Antonio Conte arrived, they are fighting for European spots and for Bentancur, it was an important step because the Premier League doesn’t stop being attractive for any footballer.”
The 24-year-old had made 181 appearances for Juventus during his time there, scoring three goals and picking up 18 assists, and he has already played in his first game for Tottenham since his arrival, coming off the bench for 13 minutes against Brighton in the FA Cup.
As for Zabaleta, the now retired right-back was a mainstay during his time at Manchester City, which lasted an impressive nine years.
He made 333 appearances for the Etihad club, including 32 under Pep Guardiola in the Spaniard’s first season there, scoring 12 goals and picking up 27 assists.
